Tuesday, February 23, 2010

right there in the middle of the February spending freeze. (A little history: we decided, in a completely undemocratic fashion, that February with its only 28 days, would be the first month that our family attempts to buy absolutely no new object. No clothes, trinkets, toys, books, thread, cards, magazines, etc. So far, aside from three comic books in NYC, we've been utterly successful.)

This afternoon, as we drive home from French lessons in the ubiquitous minivan, after stops at two different public libraries in the quest for a Tintin book to satisfy the cravings of a finicky reader who insisted that we NEEDED to go to Borders in order to BUY a Tintin book, the interior is absolutely silent. With their overhead lights shining, in the dusk between day and night, they've their heads bent over brand new library books, so absorbed that they don't notice the goofy grin on their mother's face as she heads toward home.

You know what you're supposed to do with lemons. This weekend I made lemons cakes (yummy) and citrus olive oil cake (healthy) and though both were tasty, a certain young girl voiced her complaint. She's very easy to please--stays up late eating leftover green beans--but for dessert, she's all about chocolate. So when she smelled the olive oil cake she said, simply, "Citrus, again?"

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Tomorrow I get to wear the title of two-time novelist. Without discounting discipline, inspiration, perseverance and work, I'd like to take this moment to acknowledge luck. Only so much of life can be planned and thought out. We can urge ourselves into the trajectory for which we yearn, but there's gotta be a little (or a lot) of luck to make it actually happen. Thanks, universe, for supplying me with my fair share of luck.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

My bestest friend from college visited over the weekend and we sewed into the night. What if we'd had a machine in the dorms? Look out all you hipsters with zipper tutorials on youtube--we're not far behind.

Author of three books published by Viking Penguin. THE RUG MERCHANT, DEAR STRANGERS and THIS IS HOW I'D LOVE YOU. Amateur seamstress, professional picker, admirer of design, clogs, pigtails, porch swings, & warm cookies.